Restaurnt Week - DBGB

We are in the middle of Restaurant Week here in NYC. I am a big proponent of Restaurant Week and lunch is my move. Less crowded, easier to get into the most popular restaurants. I usually use it as an excuse to try out some spots that I have not been to yet (Riverpark is on the schedule). It also a good time to hit some favorites without a big hit to the wallet. One of my go-tos is DBGB Kitchen and Bar, Daniel Boulud's comfortable, casual restaurant in the Bowery that offers refined food for lovers of sausage, burgers and beer. Daniel Boulud is a big supporter of Restaurant Week so you can be sure his Restaurant Week menus will not be mere afterthoughts.


DBGB is a large room with a masculine feel. Nods to the Lower East Side and the days of punk are limited to the restaurant name (a play on GBGB's), The Clash playing on the website and the jars of Marky Ramone's Tomato Sauce on the restaurant's shelves. The rest is Daniel Boulud, tie loosened, doing his take on comfort food. This means an enviable beer list, a great burger and one of the best collections of house made sausage in town.

All that said, I didn't go for any of the above in my recent visit. The burger is featured on the three course Prix-Fixe Restaurant Menu but I had other things in mind.

Celery Root Soup

1st Course - Celery Root Soup. The soup, with "lambcetta", hazelnuts and huckleberries, was the perfect start on a frigid day. Deeply flavorful and creamy, the soup was silky without inducing a lactose haze. The hazelnuts added crunch and texture, the huckleberries a touch of sweetness. This soup was worth braving the arctic winds howling up Bowery.

Potato Gnocchi

 2nd Course - Potato Gnocchi - This screamed comfort food so I listened. I am always wary when it comes to gnocchi but I knew I was in good hands so I rolled the dice. As you would expect, the gnocchi was perfect. Light, chewy and fresh, DBGB's version reminds you why people love gnocchi. DBGB's potato gnocchi features slow cooked chicken, grilled broccoli rabe and black truffle butter sauce. Need I say more? Once again, DBGB shows a light touch. Comforting but refined, the chicken is rich and moist and works in tandem with the gnocchi. The black truffle butter adds a touch of elegance and decadence desperately needed on a Wednesday afternoon on January.

 

Chocolate Only Cake.

3rd Course - Chocolate Only Cake. How else could you end this meal? DBGB's cake is comprised of a flourless biscuit, bittersweet chocolate mousse and white chocolate whipped cream. Layers of delicate crunchy biscuit are spread with airy, luscious chocolate mouse. And once again, the deft hands in the kitchen shine through. The Chocolate Only Cake is sinful with out hurting your teeth or sending you into a sugar induced coma and the need for confession is minimal.


DBGB Kitchen and Bar is the perfect place to indulge the gourmand in you without feeling the need to pay penance afterward. In the dark days of January and February, that is something we all deserve.



DBGB Kitchen and Bar - 299 Broadway (Between Houston and 1st Street) -

http://www.danielnyc.com/DBGB.HTML


NYC Restaurant Week continues through February 8. Check here for details -

http://www.nycgo.com/restaurantweek